Life after cancer diagnosis

Last November, Mrs McDonald was diagnosed with neuroendocrine tumours, a rare form of cancer commonly affecting the lungs and digestive system.

A year on, she wants to encourage others to take charge of their own health.

"It's been a journey for me to go from being happy and healthy to the next minute having cancer," she said.

"Some of the symptoms can be vague like hot flushes and asthma, but I'd had no symptoms at all.

"One day I had a splitting pain in my side and it turned out I had a tumour growing where my appendix was.

"When I first came home from surgery I was left to my own devices for a few weeks and I think anyone who's been diagnosed with cancer at first goes through this trauma of wondering what life will be like.

"But once I had learnt what NETs was and how to get on with my life I was able to rally and get back into life with the support of my family and friends."

Mrs McDonald's husband Evan said his wife had remained determined to fight the disease.

"Helen's resilience and determination since diagnosis has remained so strong," Mr McDonald said.

"I think I pretty much just said 'no, I won't be beaten by this'," Mrs McDonald said.

"It's been important for me to remain positive and grab each day with enthusiasm.

Mrs McDonald said she found solace in learning about her health and encouraged others to do the same.

"NETs can be slow growing so if it doesn't metastasise to the liver it can be cured," she said.

"My cancer is stable but every month I need to go to Toowoomba for treatment with octreotide, a growth hormone inhibitor that stops the cancer.

"I will need to do that for the rest of my life, or if the cancer changes and the treatment doesn't hold there are other options out there.

"NETs can be hard to diagnose and it's not high profile.

"Having gone through this I also want to get more awareness.

"I want to encourage people to look out for their own health - if they know something's not right, keep asking the questions because there are answers out there."

Cherry Tree Cafe will host a fundraiser on World NET Cancer Day next Thursday.

Owner Scott Morton said he was happy to lend a hand and bring awareness to the rare diseases.

"It's something I didn't know anything about and only through knowing Helen did I learn about what NETs is," Mr Morton said.

"We've had coffee cups donated to us and we'll be donating the profits from every coffee sold to the Unicorn Foundation as well as having collection tins in the cafe."